The UN aid coordination office, OCHA, has released $10 million in response to the urgent need for food, water, shelter and other lifesaving provisions following this week’s devastating earthquakes and aftershocks in Afghanistan.
“This is the latest crisis to expose the cost of shrinking resources on vital humanitarian work,” said the UN relief chief, Tom Fletcher, in a statement on Friday.
He stressed that more funding is needed to assist the thousands of Afghans who have lost their livelihoods in the catastrophe. The UN’s Emergency Fund is now accepting donations to aid Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has sent emergency relief items worth $4.5 million to assist over 5,000 households in Kunar and Jalalabad, said UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric.
Pregnancies at risk
The UN agency for sexual and reproductive health, UNFPA, estimates that more than 11,600 pregnant women have been impacted by the earthquake. According to UNFPA, Afghanistan already has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the Asia Pacific area.
“For pregnant women, a natural disaster can turn an already challenging time into a life-threatening crisis,” said Kwabena Asante-Ntiamoah, the UNFPA’s representative in Afghanistan.
“We are on the ground, delivering essential care to ensure safe deliveries and prevent further loss of life,” she added.
In addition to deploying an emergency response, UNFPA continues to operate some twenty health clinics in the region.
Details on the UN appeal for survivors of the earthquake can be found here.
Sexual Violence crisis deepens in Haiti
Gender-based violence (GBV) has reached alarming levels in Haiti as criminal gangs tighten their grip on the Caribbean nation, with more than 6,200 incidents reported between January and July by service providers there.
Rapes accounted for nearly half the cases, with armed groups carrying out 62 per cent of them, according to the data gathered by UN aid coordination office, OCHA.
While mostly affecting adult women, “one in seven survivors is a child, a girl under 18,” said UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, briefing reporters in New York on Friday.
More than half of the incidents involved internally displaced people, yet only one in four rape survivors accessed care within the crucial 72-hour window, he added.
Deep-seated stigma
The lack of access reflects long-standing stigma associated with GBV in Haiti, the country’s insecurity, the weak referral systems, and chiefly, the lack of health facilities in the country.
To address this, UN agencies and their humanitarian partners have assisted nearly 20,000 people, OCHA reported in an update on Friday. This includes medical care, psychological support, legal aid, dignity kits, emergency shelter, and case management.
Issues persist as services are predominantly concentrated in the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince, and in the Artibonite Department, whereas other regions, including Centre and the Grand Sud, systematically receive less support.
“Out of the $19 million required for prevention and response to gender-based violence in Haiti, we’ve only received 18 per cent,” said Mr. Dujarric.
WHO adds breakthrough cancer and diabetes medicines to essential list
Marking an important step in improving equitable access to life-saving health products worldwide, the World Health Organization (WHO) has updated its model lists of essential medicines to include new treatments for cancer, diabetes and obesity.
The revised lists, released Friday, guide procurement and coverage decisions in more than 150 countries.
They now include 523 medicines for adults and 374 for children, following the addition of 20 new adult treatments – 15 for youngsters. Other additions cover cystic fibrosis, psoriasis, haemophilia and blood disorders.
“The new editions of essential medicines lists mark a significant step toward expanding access to new medicines with proven clinical benefits and with high potential for global public health impact,” said Dr Yukiko Nakatani, WHO Assistant Director-General for Health Systems, Access and Data.
Cancer, a global priority
Cancer remains a global priority and is still responsible for nearly 10 million deaths a year. WHO has added immune checkpoint inhibitors – powerful therapies that help the immune system target cancer cells, including pembrolizumab, atezolizumab and cemiplimab, for certain metastatic cancers, citing evidence they can extend survival.
Diabetes and obesity, affecting more than 800 million and 1 billion people worldwide, respectively, are now recognized as urgent global threats.
To address them, WHO added a group of medicines to help not only lower blood sugar but also support patients with type 2 diabetes.
The UN health agency stressed that high prices remain a barrier and urged countries to prioritize patients most in need, promote generic competition and integrate access into primary care.
Pakistan’s monsoon flood-hit communities face more misery: WMO
Monsoon flooding in northern Pakistan has impacted 1.5 million people and killed nearly 900 people. Hundreds of thousands need assistance after torrential rains triggered flashfloods, landslides and destruction.
The UN Secretary-General has expressed his sadness at the scale of the emergency, while UN agencies and partners are working closely with Pakistan to identify needs and address gaps in the disaster response.
According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), there is no immediate respite in sight.
Associated with this, heavy rains could generate flash floods in streams in Kashmir, Islamabad, Rabindi, north-east Punjab and Swat, and cause slow-moving but devastating urban flooding in low-lying areas, WMO said.
Glacier effect
The UN agency noted that high temperatures causing glacial melt had made the situation worse.
Earlier this summer, Pakistan climate experts issued repeated warnings about glacial lake outbursts.
The most recent alert on 30 August warned that temperatures were much higher than normal, potentially accelerating the amount of glacier water running downstream.
